Thumbs up, thumbs down

April 17, 2015

Thumbs up to Estherville Middle School students for their great showing at the Quiz Bowl competition last Saturday. The Protons placed in the Gold bracket while the Quarks placed third in Silver, competing in a field of 32 teams from 11 schools. Protons members are Edwin Morales, Camden McKenney, Trevor Fales and team captain Emily Herum. Quarks members are team captain Vanessa Vedder, Hollywood Grabill, Taylor Myers and Emma Ross. They are coached by ELC Middle School Gifted and Talented coordinator/teacher and Quiz Bowl advisor Lois Fraser.

Thumbs up to Emmet County RSVP volunteers for their efforts. Emmet County RSVP Coordinator Linda Anderson said at the RSVP Committee meeting Monday there are 95 volunteers registered with RSVP - that's a small army.

Thumbs up to all the presenters who volunteered their time to answer questions at Career Day at the Iowa Lakes Community College Emmetsburg campus Tuesday. Students from area schools - including Estherville Lincoln Central, Graettinger-Terril and North Union - were able to speak with professionals in a lot of fields to see what training and skills are needed to succeed in those areas.

Thumbs up to Glenn Bohmer, speaker at this week's Estherville Rotary meeting. Bohmer told about the origins of the Estherville Free Clinic and how it offers acute medical services to the uninsured and underinsured. We are indeed lucky to have such a clinic staffed by volunteer professionals.

Thumbs up to Citizens Community Credit Union for donating 20 pounds of hamburger, six cases of water and $500 for the high-school rodeo May 2-3 at the Emmet County Fairgrounds. The rodeo brings about 200 contestants and their families from not just around Iowa but from surrounding states. The community benefits tremendously from the event.

Thumbs up to the HUG Puppets performers for a great show last night at Roosevelt Auditorium. It takes a lot of time to set up and take down for a show, and Edna and Terry Lutzow deserve a huge hand for the diligence and patience they have shown in working with these remarkable young people.

Thumbs up to Jeremy Anderson, Tri-State Paving and all those making it possible to add a fourth ball field to Thoreson Park.